“The child by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth” UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Thursday, November 1, 2012

The Cat is Finally out of the Bag

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With just 9 days left to the Children's Rights Referendum Mothers Alliance Ireland has issued a strong statement, which we have reprinted in full below.

PRESSRELEASE;Date:21st
October, 2012.

Subject:Referendum.The Cat is Finally Out of
the Bag.

Mothers Alliance Ireland has issued the
following statement and has called on Irish people to give a resounding NO to
the proposed Amendment of the Irish Constitution on 10th November
next.

“Since the Referendum was announced some
time back, leaders of the yes side, including Ms. Olivia O’Leary, who is
heading up the yes campaign for the children’s Rights Alliance, Barnardos,
ISPCC, etc., have repeatedly told the Irish people that this Referendum has nothing
to do with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.This UN treaty is the Elephant
in the Room in this referendum, and the lie is finally nailed by none
other than Minister Frances Fitzgerald’s own Department.In a booklet on the Referendum to be
distributed to every household by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs,
the cat has finally been let out of the bag.On page 3 of that booklet it clearly states that the
referendum “was recommended by the Constitutional Review Group which proposed a
change to reflect the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child,
ratified by Ireland in 1992.

The Question that every Irish person going
to the polls on Novenber 10thshould aks is:Why has this truth been kept from the Irish people for so long?What is there to hide?

This is what they have to hide:The UN Treaty on children is not about
giving rights to children at all (read Article 2 of the Treaty)*.It gives rights to the State and Agents
of the State – not parents or children – to decide what’s best for every child
in this country.It makes every
child, whether of married, deserted, separated, divorced or bereaved parents, a
ward of the State.Parents,
good or not so good, will no longer be able to protect their children from
intervention by the State or Agents of the State – and we all know how Agents
of the State are currently profiting from the Child Care Industry.This Treaty can be used by the State and State agents to get teenagers to sue their parents if,
for instance parents, in their wisdom, choose to invade
the privacy of their bedroom or check their mobile phone, or try to stop them
using the internet or associating with friends whom the parents consider bad
company.

Mothers Alliance
Ireland is now appealing to all those good people who have been deceived into
campaigning for a yes vote in this referendum to come out on November 10th,
and give a resounding NO to this monstrous attempt to legally deny decent
parents the Constitutional right to
protect their children and all our children and grandchildren from this
explosive Treaty.

1. States Parties shall respect and
ensure the rights set forth in the present Convention to each child
within their jurisdiction without discrimination of any kind,
irrespective of the child's or his or her parent's or legal guardian's
race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion,
national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other
status. 2. States Parties shall take all
appropriate measures to ensure that the child is protected against all
forms of discrimination or punishment on the basis of the status,
activities, expressed opinions, or beliefs of the child's parents, legal
guardians, or family members.

NOTE

In its General Comment No. 4 of 2003,40 it[the Committee on the Rights of the
Child stated that,

‘State parties have the obligation to ensure that all human
being below 18 enjoy all the rights set forth in the Convention [on the Rights
of the Child] without discrimination (Article 2)including with regard to “race, colour, sex, language,
religion, political or other opinion, national ethnic or social origin,
property, disability, birth or other status”.These grounds also cover, [interalia] sexual
orientation’.[i]

The CRC thus appears to adopt the same approach as the CESCR
[Convention on Economic, Social Cultural Rights] in locating sexual orientation
within the category of ‘other status’.p.215

Pat Buckley

I was born in Galway, Ireland where I attended first Scoil Fhursa and then St Ignatius (Jesuit) College. My family moved to Cork in 1960 and I spent my last year at the Christian Brothers College in Mc Curtain street Cork (CBC).

I came to Dublin in 1963 where I met and married my wife Philomena. We have lived in Dublin since then and have been blessed with seven children and 17 grandchildren (so far). When I finished school I studied architecture through the professional institutions and I am a retired Member of the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland (MRIAI). I also hold a BSc. in psychology and political philosophy.

I currently lobby pro-life and pro-family issues at the United Nations in New York and Geneva and occasionally at the European Parliament and Council of Europe. I am a member of the pro-life, pro-family coalition operating within the international institutions and I am a consultant to the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children SPUC on UN and related matters.

Between 1978-85, as a married couple Philomena and I were involved in the presentation of Marriage Encounter Weekends and pre-marriage courses. We also represented Worldwide Marriage Encounter on a committee for the family in the Dublin Archdiocese. Between 1985-1988. I was appointed National Secretary and then President of the Catholic Secondary Schools Parents Association (CSPA). I have been lobbying pro-life issue at the UN for upwards of 12 years.

I am a past President of the National Association of Catholic Families (NACF)

Publications:

1997: Anthology of pro-life verse

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